A presentation for our staff about appropriately reaching ALL of our parents/guardians in our diverse population. All materials were provided by Teaching Tolerance; a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center

1. Family Involvement: a
deeper look at what is
required with a diverse
population

2. LISA West Poverty Rate 43.3%
LISA North Poverty Rate 52.7%

3. Home Languages
at LISA Academy
Arabic
Bengali; Bangla
Chinese; Zhongwen
Greek
Gujarati
Hindi
Igbo
Japanese; Nihongo
Korean; Choson-O
Mandarin
Mongolian
Persian; Farsi
Filipino
Punjabi; Panjabi
Russian
Spanish
Tagalog
Tamil
Telugu
Thai
Tonga
Turkish
Ukrainian
Urdu
Vietnamese
In the past we have also
had:
French
German
Irish; Gaeilge
Cantonese
Laotian; Pha Xa Lao
Pakistani

4. It doesn’t stop after the introduction
Most teachers have a technique or two in their back-to-school
tool kits for introducing themselves to families and taking
those first steps to engage parents and other caregivers in the
classroom and the student learning process. And yet, family
engagement is a year-long process.
*Talk to your right-side elbow partner about what you do.

5. Parents are important allies!
As children's first teachers, parents play important roles in
supporting academic learning at home and at school. Parents
and other adult caregivers are important resources and allies
for educators as they help students navigate through the
schooling process and reinforce classroom lessons and good
study habits at home.
*Talk to your left elbow partner about how parents are allies.

6. National PTA’s 5 Reasons to engage parents
1. Higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates
2. Better attendance at school
3. Fewer suspensions and incidents of violent behavior
4. Increased motivation and self-esteem
5. Decreased drug and alcohol use
*If this is true, we REALLY need to continue engage our

7. Research says essential components include:
1. a foundation of mutual respect and trust,
2. connection of parent engagement strategies to student
learning objectives
3. reaching out to engage parents beyond the school
These are particularly important in a school like LISA which is
culturally and linguistically diverse.

8. Initiating Contact

9. READ Handout to examine the classist assumptions in
schools
Silently read the handout. Then form 10 small groups to specifically address
Gorski’s recommendations as it relates to LISA.
1. To what extent is this already being done in our school?
2. What do we need to learn to make this happen?
3. With whom would we need to work?
4. What resources would we need?
Present findings to the whole group, solicit feedback and

10. Group 1
Assign work requiring computer and Internet
access or other costly resources only when we
can provide in-school time and materials for
such work to be completed

11. Group 2
Work with our schools to make parent
involvement affordable and convenient by
providing transportation, on-site childcare and
time flexibility

12. Group 3
Give students from poverty access to the same
high-level curricular and pedagogical
opportunities and high expectations as their
wealthy peers
(Think Insight vs. Genius Hour)

13. Group 4
Teach about classism, consumer culture, the
dissolution of labor unions, environmental
pollution and other injustices disproportionately
affecting the poor, preparing new generations
of students to make a more equitable world

14. Group 5
Keep stocks of school supplies, snacks, clothes and
other basic necessities handy for students who
may need them, but find quiet ways to
distribute these resources to avoid singling
anyone out

15. Group 6
Develop curricula that are relevant and meaningful
to our students' lives and draw on their
experiences and surroundings;

16. Group 7
Fight to get our students into gifted and talented
programs and to give them other opportunities
usually reserved for economically advantaged
students and to keep them from being assigned
unjustly to special education.
(Think about academic teams and CRLP)

17. Group 8
Continue to reach out to parents even when we
feel they are being unresponsive;
this is one way to establish trust

18. Group 9
Challenge our colleagues when they stigmatize
poor students and their parents, reminding
them of the inequitable conditions in our
schools and classrooms

19. Group 10
Challenge ourselves, our biases and prejudices, by
educating ourselves about the cycle of poverty
and classism in and out of U.S. schools.

20. Break: 10 minutes
Please enjoy a brief break!

21. Inviting Engagement
U.S. classrooms are growing more diverse —
ethnically, culturally and linguistically. In
response, teachers and educational advocates
are employing new strategies, and adapting tried-
and-true strategies, to better serve diverse parent
populations

22. Overcoming Language Barriers

23. REFLECT with your elbow partner
Reflect On:
How does my approach to parents and families encourage
or discourage their continued participation in the
classroom? Are there cross-cultural communication or
language considerations?
How can I use my students' families and cultural
backgrounds to enrich the classroom and instruction?

24. Using Plain Terms
Beyond the language we speak, the words we
choose can help or hinder the effectiveness of
communication with parents and guardians. How
do our word choices assist or prevent necessary
interaction? How might our communication
practices reflect power, instead of partnership?

25. Eliminate the Education Jargon

26. REFLECT with an elbow partner
What is the implicit message that the use of jargon and
unidentified acronyms sends to parents?
Are there unwritten or unspoken cultural codes in play
when I communicate with parents?
How does my communication strategy reinforce or
reconstruct the teacher/parent power dynamic?

27. Go Deeper
In this interview, education reformer Lisa Delpit encourages
teachers to discover who their students are outside the
classroom by engaging parents in authentic, meaningful ways
and introduces her conceptions of culture and power.
Take the time to read through this interview. (handout 2)